The United States Post Office has released the following notice:
“To provide you with greater security, USPS is making several changes to the online USPS Hold Mail™ process. These improvements will require additional action from you before you submit your next hold mail request.
What is changing?
Beginning in early October 2019, to place an online hold mail request in the future, you will be required to:
- Create or sign in to your USPS.com® account
- Verify your identity
Note: There are several identity verification methods available, with some methods taking up to one week to complete, so please plan accordingly.
How can I prepare?
To complete account creation and satisfy the Hold Mail identity verification requirement ahead of these changes, you can sign up for the free USPS Informed Delivery® feature – the only feature that currently offers identity verification. Once you are identity verified, you will not have to complete this step again for your current address and will be able to hold your mail. As an Informed Delivery subscriber, you will also be able to digitally monitor your mail while it is on hold. To learn more and sign up, go to the Informed Delivery Homepage. See more details in the Informed Delivery FAQs.
What if I already scheduled a USPS Hold Mail request?
If you placed a USPS Hold Mail request before these changes are implemented, your request will not be affected.
If you have other questions related to this upcoming change, please feel free to Contact Us or reach out to the USPS Helpdesk at 1-800-344-7779 for more information.”
–Tidelines Editors